About a year ago an artist friend of mine that I adore & admire (for so many reasons) Stephanie Rond asked if I would be interested in doing a commission for her husband. This was to be a birthday surprise for him. I decided it was time I got a large piece from Stephanie as well. We set the deadline to finish (Nate’s birthday) & went from there. We spoke only a couple of times tweaking details & requests, but I’d like to share with you my part of the experience. Our pieces were both 30 x 40 in.
This will also give you some insight into my process. I will add that this was during quarantine, so I’m not in my normal studio— Enjoy!
After drawing a really quick sketch & color plan (you can see in a pic below) I started by sketching directly onto my wood panel. I stalked facebook for some of my reference pictures.
Here is the first layer. With the layout marked off & the first go of ink done, this is maybe 10-15% done.
I use kind of a gesso to seal parts and provide a brighter base so that colors appear more vivid. The kitty in the corner was drawn & cut out of bristol vellum (what I normally do body parts out of).
So who are these adorable kitties? Meet Dot & Dorrie. They are world famous art curators of S. Dot Gallery and an integral part of the family. They HAD to be included! That colorful bit to the right of them is the pre-sketch I did.
On the left the collage is mostly complete. Notice the cats are in a different place on the right image. The papers used are all symbolic to them. I won’t give you too many details because I want them to be able to keep and share them for themselves. There are languages, maps and words that represent important things to them. The image to the right is the very beginning of more ink washing. Fun fact: I forgot to gold leaf before I collaged their hair.
After MANY washes of ink & watercolor, it’s getting much closer! Gold leaf is done. Now I said I was relegated to my living room instead of my normal studio. Have you ever heard an artist go on & on & on about “the lighting”? Look at these side by side. Can you see how bright and vivid the image on the left is compared to the one on the right? The one on the left was mid-day, while the one on the right was at night with clearly not adequate lighting.
So here is where I made this piece (and several others as you can see). Again, this is a makeshift studio set-up for quarantine. It’s a mess!!
Here it is (with another commission I worked on at the same time) ready for sealing. I usually do at least 3 coats of an archival UV protectant. This seals, protects and actually helps the color saturation immensely. I will tell you Stephanie told me my piece was ready 2 weeks before I was done —so the anticipation was intense!!
Here is Stephanie Rond’s piece I got!!! We did a socially safe contactless hand off in my driveway & I am absolutely in love with the piece she made for me! Fun fact: the vulture is my spirit animal!
And here is her finished piece! I can say she had to hide it from her husband for a bit until it was his birthday! Fun fact: On the ground at each side is a little present for each of them: On his there is a buckeye (representing Ohio). On her side is some clover (representing Ireland), one of which has 4 leaves.
Who is Stephanie Rond? She’s an artist & a person I absolutely admire. Please click on her name to see her website to learn way more about her (like her TedX talk, or her award winning short film). She is an Internationally recognized force of vision & action. Below are only some of the projects that she has been running in addition to making her own art & fighting for good.
I hope you enjoyed!